Steelers extend Maurkice Pouncey's contract

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had decades of Pro Bowl play at the center position.

On Thursday, the Steelers gave Maurkice Pouncey’s a contract extension, the team announced. This deal will extend that streak.

Going into last season, Pouncey had been a Pro Bowler in all three of his NFL seasons since being drafted out of Florida in the first round in 2010. But he sustained a season-ending knee injury (torn ACL and MCL) early in the season opener against the Tennessee Titans.

Pouncey was injured in last season’s opener when guard David DeCastro dove into his leg while attempting a cut block.

DeCastro, a first round pick in 2012 out of Stanford, is the right guard in a young offensive line in Pittsburgh. Sixth-year pro Ramon Foster is at left guard. The question marks are at the tackles, where third-year pro Kevin Beachum is on the left side and fourth-year Marcus Gilbert is on the right.

DeCastro recently told the Pittsburgh Tribune: “Having Pouncey back, you can’t say enough about that. We get along really well. We know each other so well, we almost don’t need to make (line) calls because we know each other so well.”

The loss of Pouncey was a key factor into the Steelers’ 0-4 start in 2013.

Now, he’s back. The Steelers hope to pick up where he left off as the cornerstone of a young offensive line, now coached by Mike Munchak, who was on the opposite sideline in the 2013 opener as head coach of the Titans.

Pouncey started all 16 games as a rookie. But he missed the Steelers’ Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers that season with an ankle injury.

When he joined the Steelers, the plan was that he was next in line of succession on the list of top centers in Pittsburgh.

Hall of Famer Mike Webster made nine Pro Bowls in his Pittsburgh career (1974-1988). Dermontti Dawson followed him (1988-2000 as a Steelers) and made seven Pro Bowls. Free-agent addition Jeff Hartings was a Pro Bowl center in Pittsburgh in 2005 and 2005.

Last July, Maurkice Pouncey and his twin brother, Mike Pouncey, also a first-round pick and center for the Miami Dolphins, were photographed during a party in Miami wearing caps supporting their former Florida teammate, Aaron Hernandez.

Hernandez, a former New England Patriot tight end, has been charged with murder. The caps displayed by the Pouncey brothers read, “Free Hernandez.”

Maurkice Pouncey later apologized on Twitter, saying he understood the “seriousness of the situation involving my former teammate.”